First Beverage Group Adds New Managing Director Of Private Equity Division

BevNET.com:

LOS ANGELES – First Beverage Group, a full-service financial services firm dedicated exclusively to the beverage industry, today announced that Jason Camillos has joined the firm as managing director of First Beverage Ventures, the company’s private equity division.

“Timing Jason’s hire to coincide with the launch of our new fund allows us to hit the ground running as we add new brands to our portfolio,” said William Anderson, founder and CEO of First Beverage Group. “Jason’s multi-faceted experience with building great consumer brands will be an enormous asset to our company, our team and our partners.”

“Jason has diverse talents and a deep knowledge of this industry,” said Tom First, managing partner of First Beverage Group, who previously worked with Camillos at the juice company First co-founded, Nantucket Nectars. “He has been a key player in the success of several great brands and I’m excited to work with him again.”

Camillos, who has over 21 years of experience in the food and beverage industries, is an expert at driving success with emerging brands and will be responsible for managing all operating activities of First Beverage’s portfolio companies. Before joining First Beverage, Camillos most recently led market development efforts at Unreal Brands, a candy start-up company based in Boston. Prior to that, he was senior vice president of business development at Glaceau, where he established a business planning and commercial operations infrastructure that was critical to the successful management of the fast-growing enhanced water business. His efforts helped to position the company for sale to the Coca-Cola Company in 2007 for the historic sum of $4.2B. Camillos has a BA in English from Princeton University and lives in Connecticut.

“I have always been passionate about creating and building things, whether a brand, a company or a team,” said Camillos. “We have seen so much innovation in the beverage industry over the last 20 years, and the pace at which new ideas come to market seems only to grow quicker. It will be a thrill to be at the forefront of this activity and to be a promoter of change in this incredibly dynamic industry.”

ABOUT FIRST BEVERAGE GROUP

First Beverage Group is a full-service financial services firm dedicated exclusively to the beverage industry. First Beverage focuses on providing growth solutions to leading operators in all segments of the beverage industry through a comprehensive range of products, including investment funds for growth capital and investment banking. Headquartered in Los Angeles with offices in Boston and New York, the First Beverage team has over 200 years of experience in the beverage industry.